The Squid Game in a critique of late capitalism : Ibrahim Imam

The popular Netflix series Squid Game is at the bottom of a not short list of movies and series whose content shares some of the same factors and ideas.

Squid game

The Japanese movie Battle Royale, which was produced in 2000, is not the first on this list, and the list will certainly not end with the Squid Game series.

The list includes films such as the Japanese film As the Gods Will, produced in 2014, and the American film series The Hunger Games, which includes four films that began in 2012 and directed by Gary Ross, and starring the famous actress Jennifer Lawrence. .

All of these works share a simple and similar plot, which is that there are two groups of people, one possessing an enormous amount of power and wealth, while the other has nothing. The first group organizes a series of bloody games in which the player risks his life in exchange for his exit from the first group.

But despite the great similarity in the plot structure between all these films and their heavy presence in the discussion of the Squid Game series, the most present movie when discussing the ideas of the Squid Game series is the South Korean movie Parasite for direct reasons related to the unity of the country of production and being one of the few non-speaking works In English, it has topped the list of views all over the world.

But the more profound reason is that although the plot and the structure of the story are different, the concepts presented by both are similar, and they discuss class, late capitalist society, unequal concentration of wealth, etc.

About the game

The series presents the story of Seong Gi-hun, a South Korean citizen who is going through financial difficulties in his life resulting from his layoff, which leads to his separation from his wife and daughter and drowning in a sea of ​​debt.

Ji-hoon tries to get money using any easy method like betting on horse racing or other tricks that will save a lot of money without much effort. Ji-hoon meets an unknown person who offers him to play a children's game in exchange for a large amount of money, and when Ji-hoon wins the game, the person offers him to participate in other games that offer more money.

Ji-hoon is already involved in these games, and notes that they are highly organized, managed, and most importantly secretive. Ji-hoon finds himself in the middle of a group of 465 players who are stuck together, fleeing debt and looking for another opportunity for a fresh start, which they all try to achieve by winning these games that offer a prize money of KRW 45 billion, which is equivalent to 38 Almost a million dollars.

When the first game in the series of six consecutive games begins, everyone is surprised that the game is a traditional children's game that everyone is familiar with, or at least adults whose childhood electronic games have not invaded, but we soon discover the dark side of this game, which is that the loser is killed.

At the moment we understand the whole structure of this game, it is a game in which the poor and the desperate compete in childish games for money so that they can continue their lives, risking their lives for it, and the only purpose of this great risk is the amusement of a group of very rich financiers.

Late capitalism

We can notice that the complex of the series depends mainly on what we call the main contradiction of capitalism, and we can notice two different images of this contradiction in the series, the first picture we see at the base of the pyramid of capitalist societies, which is that the poor sacrifice their lives in order to obtain money that has no benefit If you are not alive, which necessarily means that life is higher than money, but capitalism sacrifices it in exchange for obtaining it.

The second picture is what we see at the top of the pyramid, and he is so rich that he does not face any problems except that his extreme wealth and possession of wealth, the central prize that capitalism promises, makes life boring and meaningless to the extent that the organizer of these games himself participates in the games, sacrificing his life in exchange for feeling in life.

Perhaps one of the most important reasons for the success of the series, which is its ability to draw coherent patterns for realistic characters, and then rely on the internal logic of these characters to lead the events of the series, which enables us to form a good perception of those qualified to win this competition since the beginning of the events, there is the North Korean girl Sai -Byuk Kang Sae-byeok, who is characterized by will, caution and speed, but lacks physical strength, which is the same as Oh Il-nam, who is distinguished by his wisdom and long experience in playing these games due to his age.

On the other side is the gangster Jang Deok-su who from the first moment we can tell that he will only be an obstacle in the way of the winner as he has no ingredients other than the ability to intimidate the other contestants.

Therefore, the choices are limited to two people, each representing a different perspective on life. The first option is the hero of the series Ji-hoon, who has a balanced amount of ingredients that qualify him to win, but he is not the best in any of them, as opposed to the second option, which is the most efficient and suitable person to win, and he is his childhood friend. Cho Sang-woo.

Sang-Woo is distinguished by physical strength, extreme intelligence, quick-wittedness, seriousness, and desire to win a higher degree than his counterpart Ji-hoon, but as the series goes on, we notice the most important difference between the two characters. Within it, that is, through the combination of factors that make up life as long as you are alive such as efficiency, wealth, seriousness, work, discipline, etc.

While we find Ji-hoon an emotional person, who is not interested in getting the prize to accumulate wealth, but seeks to treat his mother and provide for his daughter, and during the events of the series we notice his emotional tendency that prompted him to make a number of decisions that were not appropriate from a practical point of view, the exact opposite of Sang- Wu.

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk chose an optimistic conclusion, even though Sang-woo is the most competent, his victory will end the series with a very dark view of life, a life that can only be achieved by killing it within the human being first, a life where there is no room for anyone but The struggle over matter.

That's why Dong-hyuk chose Ji-hoon to win in the end. Ji-hoon will get this huge fortune but will come out unwilling after all he's experienced in order to get it, until he finds that the only way for this award to make sense is to fulfill the contestants' desires to take care of their families.

Sang-Woo was not evil, but competent, representing the man created by capitalism, a man who does not see what is outside material life, while Ji-hoon represents the optimistic end, the victory of what the director calls human feeling, and no matter what "humanity" is, only It is certainly a feeling outside of life, beyond it, and above it.

The Squid Game has provided a hearty multidimensional experience, and this article is just one of at least ten parts of it. Dong-hyuk succeeded in presenting these deep thoughts and complex vision of life in an artistic form that contains a lot of entertainment and can address different levels of thought and deeply influence the viewer.